A New Species of Neornithischian Dinosaur has been discovered in the USA #palaeontology

#paleontology #enigmacursor #neornithischia #dinosaur #prehistoriclife #prehistoric #morrisonformation #colorado #usa #fossil #fossils #walkingwithdinosaurs

Transcript:
On Wednesday, 25th June, a new species of neornithischian dinosaur was officially described, based on a partial skeleton unearthed in the Moffat County of Colorado, USA. Initially discovered in between 2021 and 2022, the species called Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae was recovered from strata belonging to the Morrison Formation, placing the species in the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic period around 155–148 million years ago. Through comparative and phylogenetic analysis, Susannah C. R. Maidment and Paul M. Barrett identified several unique autapomorphies, including a low anterior trochanter and an absence of a supracetabular crest on the ilium. These distinctive features allowed them to classify Enigmacursor as a non-cerapodan neornithischian, with its closest known relative being Yandusaurus from the Late Jurassic of China. This discovery not only provides new insights into the anatomy of these organisms but also significantly enhances our understanding of the diversity of ornithischian dinosaurs within the Morrison Formation.

References:
Maidment, S. C. R.; Barrett, P. M. (2025). "Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, a neornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western USA". Royal Society Open Science. 12 (6). 242195.

James Ashworth. (2025). New species of ‘mystery’ dinosaur unveiled at the Natural History Museum. Natural History Museum. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2025/june/new-species-mystery-dinosaur-unveiled-natural-history-museum.html

Connor Ashbridge. (2025). File:Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae.png. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enigmacursor_mollyborthwickae.png#mw-jump-to-license

Raingerr. (2023). File:Yandusaurus reconstruction.png. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yandusaurus_reconstruction.png

Whoisjohngalt. (2018). File:Fortification Rocks in Moffat County Colorado.jpg. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortification_Rocks_in_Moffat_County_Colorado.jpg

Michael Overton. (2005). File:Green River UT 2005-10-14 2104.jpg. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_River_UT_2005-10-14_2104.jpg

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